Paired step-block units create squares in following color combinations; light blue/brown, yellow/dark blue, green/red. Tie-dye designs of diamonds and striped in natural, red, yellow. Selvedges and fringe intact.

Pre-Columbian, Nazca Culture Manta Textile84 1/4 x 49 3/8 in. (214 x 125.41 cm.) Private Collection, New Mexico.

Cuzco was the heart of the vast Inca empire, but all changed in the 16th century when the capital was conquered by Spanish invaders. Michael J Schreffler investigates the Inca city, and how it went from the centre of one empire to the periphery of another.

In the Andes, writing with characters on a surface was not known, as understood in the western world, but khipus seem to have been an effective mnemonic tool in the administrative tasks of the Inca civilization. basically a khipu was an ancient way of

Mainstream history relates how human beings hunted their way out of Africa and eventually reached the landmass now called South America about 15,000 years ago.

David VanBuskirk, photographer. An Inca weaver at Accha Alta, Peru wearing her handwoven manta. The patterns have meanings with complex associations that usually represent elements of the natural world and the land, Pacha Mama. Inspiration for my book "Beyond the Stones of Machu Picchu: Stories and Folk Tales of Inca Life" by Elizabeth VanBuskirk. For more information on village weaving in Chinchero see "Descendants of the Incas" incas.org

Considered the first art form in the region, cloth has possessed unparalleled importance in the Andes since the second millennium BC.

Chancay Textiles